Ford ESP worth the $$$

[Scott Atwater]

I am currently at the 30k mark and I am tring to decide which plan is best. I plan on keeping the truck for a while but the premium care plan is almost 3 grand. I know trans issues are the achillies heel of the trac so even the basic warranty will cover that. Anyone give me some idea's and some good examples with their ESP from Ford. I will never again buy a ESP from anyone else. The last one I had on the Landrover got cancelled after a year from GE Capitol claiming they don't do warranties anymore. I tried getting money back and got in with a class action lawsuit but nothing ever seemed to come from it.:angry:

 

[Tom Schindler]

Personally, I do not want an Extended Warranty. I can't make that decision for you.



So, if you plan on getting one, check the sponsors to the left. I think the website is fordserviceplan.com Much cheaper then your local dealer but the same thing. It is done by a dealer in Georgia.





Tom

 

[The Ape]

I am in the minority here but I have always believed that as long as I have a payment, it is going to be under the factory/dealer warrenty.



Its a crap shoot, if you get it and never use it you lose, you don't buy it then your tranny drops and you lose. One way or another you are are going to pay.



Ape Out.

 

[troy malone]

try this site,, the ford service plans are cheaper from Rusty at Fordpartsfast.com

i got my money's worth from the ESP on my 01...



troy

 

[Casey B]

I bought my ST used from an individual. I bargained with him and gave him blue book for the truck and it had 52k on it. He purchased the Premium ESP from the dealer when he bought it, close to $3k. The warranty transferred to me with 1.5 years or 48k miles left on it. He paid the $50 transfer fee.



I don't think I would have bought the truck if it weren't for the warranty. I'm glad because so far I've saved almost a grand and that's including me having to pay $100 deductibles. I wasn't too happy the first time I went in and they told me that if they diagnosed a problem and it wasn't covered under my warranty, I had to pay for the diagnostics and labor that was performed. It was good for me that I knew what the problem was before I went to the dealer so I wasn't worried about that threat, thanks mySportTrac.com! I haven't been satisfied with either of the 2 Ford dealerships service that I've used. Maybe it's because the vehicle wasn't purchased from them?





C

 

[Andrew Tollison 3]

I am going to purchase one when i get off work in the moring, I have 35,670 on my 04 ST. I am going to get the basic care plan. I think it is going to be $63/month for 17 months

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Andrew, you send me $1020 (60/month * 17 months) now, and then in the future if something breaks and you want it covered you contact me. I will send you a letter indicating you aren't covered. That way, you save $51.



Seriously though, if you know you are going to put major miles on a car, then get the ESP so that you are under warranty while making payments (as Ape suggests). If you are going to go off warranty at the end of 36 months, you can probably chance it for a couple of years if you are a more typical, 12K miles/year driver. But either way, you should know up front before buying the vehicle which profile of driver you are and negotiate the ESP when purchasing when you can get the BEST deal possible. I do understand people's habits/needs change, however.



TJR

 

[JohnnyB]

I got the premium plan in Nov 2000 for $1200.



well worth it. Did all 4 ball joints twice each and tie rod ends. would have been around $950 for just the 1st 4. Also a tranny fluid leak and a brake fluid leak, multiple sensors - a couple times were after the 3/36 too. Would have had to pay for it all out of pocket. was easier and more ecomonical for me to just add it to the payment.

 

[Frank Marano]

I bought mine when I got my truck......so they rolled it into my payment.....$1000 / 60 months = an extra $17 a month isnt bad for the extra protection. IMO.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

JB should the ball joints have been covered the 2nd time they needed doing regardless? (how many miles between your 2nd and 3rd set)?

 

[Todd Z]

I will never buy any car/truck with out the extended warranty. If you don't keep vehicles past 50-60K then you may not need one.

Since I plan to keep my st for a while I did purchase the warranty, and the extra couple of bucks is a piece of mind, Not to mention I get towing and loaner cars from the dealer if the truck is in for a warranty repair..

Todd Z

 

[Eric H]

We bought the ESP last year when we got our "02 ST. So far we've have the front suspension rebuilt, the transmission rebuilt and the PCM computer replaced.



The question is whether the ESP is worth the money? The plan cost us $1300 and if we had paid for the repairs ourselves the total would have been over $4000 so you do the math!



As a side note...We like our ST a lot, but with all the repairs we've done to keep it going, it will be traded off immediately after the ESP expires!

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

By buying an ESP you lock in your repair liability. With a zero deductible, all repairs are free up to the length of your contract. You pay ~ $1200 for that protection. If an unexpected repair bill will hurt your budget, this is the way to go. It also is a good idea when the vehicle has a weak component, such as an 5r55E transmission or weak ball joints. I do all my own repair work, but I still bought the ESP from RUSTY to protect against the high ticket items like transmissions. In addition, it is a great selling feature since the buyer knows that there is no problems being hidden by the seller, since the repair to him would be free.

 

[JohnnyB]

What kinda deal did Rusty give you?

 

[Josh OH]

I don't know if it helps, but before I even started mods on the truck, me and my wife invested on the Extra Care extened warranty for 7 yr 100,000 miles.. It's a sound investment for both of us in our opinion and gives us peace of mind. After we decided to do mods to the ST, we checked for EACH mod before doing it, and saw what could void the warranty and what could not. Then asked ya'll on the ST website for advice (Thanks for all the help by the way). We're getting our LAST mod that we want done this next weekend.. (The areo-exhaust system) and I'll DEFINATELY let you guys know if it's worth the buy or not..

At anyrate.. It's just like most people said here. A double edged sword. But on the military analize side of the house, better to have it, and not need it, then want it, and not have it.

~Josh

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

JohnnyB, I don't remember, but it was the best around.

 

[Tom Schindler]

You need to remember something about extended warranties. You buy them thinking you need it, they sell them hoping you won't.



More people will buy them and never use it then those that do. If it were the other way around, they would not offer them.



Personally, I do not buy them. The amount of money I would invest in a warranty is not worth it to me. I would feel traped into not making my vehicle mine. Bigger tires can cause the dealer to say the problem is caused by the tires and not the fault of the vehicle. Same with exhaust systems, intakes, suspension systems, etc.



Then again, I know how to fix most anything if it does fail. The cost of most repairs is cheap. The biggies would be a tranny and engine, but I am not worried about that. I can rebuild engines and a have friends that can rebuild trannies. If anything else, I should be able to do it on my own too.



In the end it is a crap shoot. Like my uncle says, no matter what dealer you go to, no matter the brand they sell, they have a repair shop that is staffed by people and they are always busy.



Only you know what works best for you. I would hate to have an extended warranty and have the dealer blame bad ball joints being caused by my tires or lift. I can change both ball joints myself in a few hours for less then $75.00. The $2,000.00 I would have spent on the extended warranty would have been wasted.



That is just me though.





Tom

 

[TomT]

I've never bought an extended warranty on anything. That's where most manufactures make their profit. I once inherited an extended warranty on a used car I bought and it was nothing but a big pain in the ass.